BOGOTA , Colombia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Former hostage Sigifredo Lopez landed in the Colombian city of Palmira to a hero 's welcome Thursday afternoon , free after nearly seven years of captivity by Marxist rebels in the jungle .

A Brazilian helicopter takes off Thursday from an airport in Palmira , Colombia , to pick up Sigifredo Lopez .

Lopez was met at the helicopter that ferried him to freedom by his wife and two sons , who cried openly and deeply as they hugged him . One son held his father 's head in his hands and spoke to him fervently as he kissed his forehead .

Lopez 's mother also hugged him before the freed hostage was swallowed by a mob of family members of other hostages who had died in captivity .

After hugging well-wishers for more than 20 minutes , Lopez climbed into a white Red Cross sport utility vehicle and drove off in a four-vehicle convoy .

The former regional legislator was abducted April 11 , 2002 , by rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia , better known as FARC .

Lopez 's release was the sixth unilateral one by the rebels in a week , but few of the kidnappings were as dramatic as the one in which Lopez and 11 other lawmakers were taken .

He is the only one of that group who remains alive .

A video taken by the FARC that day in April 2002 and released in late 2006 shows the first minutes of the bold kidnapping that led to his captivity .

The rebels had been training for months . At a FARC camp , they practiced in Colombian army and police uniforms and made mock-ups of the regional parliament in Cali with plastic tarps and sticks .

A rebel camera was rolling as the 20-strong commando group drove a bus to Cali , Colombia 's third-largest city . Salsa music was blaring . Watch the FARC footage of the dramatic abduction of Lopez and other lawmakers ''

They were posing as government soldiers . Motorcycle outriders cleared the way .

Once they reached the parliament building , they faked a bomb alert .

The bus pulled out in front of the building , and the video shows people running from the perceived threat .

On the video , an unseen rebel is heard to say , `` For the deputies , we have a special vehicle . ''

Twelve congressmen took their seats , believing the military was shepherding them to safety . Minutes passed , and one politician asked where they are headed .

A few minutes later , the muffled reply can be heard : `` Ladies and gentlemen . We are the FARC . ''

Back in the mountains , the hostages were herded aboard a truck . Guerrillas waved and hugged as they celebrated their audacious mission .

In 2003 , Lopez and some of the other hostages appeared in a proof-of-life video . One of his colleagues simply wrote , `` Until when ? '' on his hand and held it up to camera .

Another , Jairo Hoyos , sent a prophetic plea to the president : `` Mister President . Those who are about to die salute you . ''

Eleven of the congressmen were killed in captivity in June 2007 . The FARC said they died in cross-fire during a military rescue mission . The Colombian army rejects that assertion .

When the bodies were recovered three months later , autopsies showed most had been shot multiple times in the back .

Lopez was the sole survivor . On Thursday night , he may be able to tell the rest of the world what happened that day .

FARC has released five other hostages in the past week . On Tuesday , Alan Jara , the former governor of Colombia 's Meta state , arrived at the airport in Villavicencio , southeast of Bogota .

Four hostages -- three police officers and a soldier -- were released over the weekend .

Colombian Sen. Piedad Cordoba has brokered the releases with the help of the the International Committee of the Red Cross and a group called Colombians for Peace . Brazil also has helped , providing the aircraft used in the releases .

The FARC , the largest and oldest guerrilla group in Colombia , announced the releases December 21 and designated Cordoba as the coordinator . Some analysts see these releases as a first step toward an eventual peace accord . Others suggest this is just another sign that government military gains combined with a tough right-wing political line are gradually beating the FARC into submission .

Colombia has said the rebels are still holding about 700 captives

The government recently has offered rewards to guerrillas who surrender and free hostages . Last month , two guerrillas fled their camp deep in the jungles of southern Colombia , bringing along two captives , a 14-year-old boy and a male adult who were kidnapped in December .

And a July rescue operation freed former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt , who had been held captive since 2002 , along with three American military contractors and 11 Colombian police and military members .

The government has said the FARC 's military force has been severely compromised in recent months , but authorities still accuse it of trafficking huge quantities of cocaine to finance its decades-old insurgency .

Security analysts said FARC , established in the early 1960s , has about 9,000 to 12,000 armed guerillas and several thousand supporters , mostly in rural areas .

The guerrilla group operates mostly in Colombia but has carried out extortion , kidnappings and other activities in Venezuela , Panama and Ecuador , analysts say .

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NEW : Family greets Sigifredo Lopez , the sixth hostage to be freed by FARC this week

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Lopez is only survivor of 12 lawmakers who were abducted in April 2002

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FARC filmed video of audacious mission to kidnap congressmen

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Eleven of congressmen were killed in captivity in June 2007